Kingfisher Strike

This sketch was part of the preparation made for a painting. My attention waivered from my children's book project and the next thing I knew I was on my way to painting a Kingfisher strike. In contrast to the book this work is more naturalistic.

Here is the the jealous Kingfisher for the book. The animals have human (anthropomorphic) qualities although I don't like to overwork their expressions. I do try to leave something to the imagination and not take too much away from their animalness...